How to get leads!

I have been in sales for too long to say but over time I have seen many things and one thing is clear, getting sales leads is just as tough today as it was in days gone bye. I started my career with training that was based almost totally on the "cold call" concept.  We would be put in a territory and we sometimes went block to block, business by business knocking on doors and leaving information or demonstrating our product. At times a bunch of us would gather for breakfast, discuss strategies then we would all help a fellow salesperson by "bombing" their  territory. We would all go out and knock on doors and get leads. This was fun and it built comraderie but again it was an all day affair and it was hard especially when it was 100 degrees outside!

Then came the rising cost of gas and we learned to be more efficient meaning we used the phone a lot and made telephone calls and mailers. This was easier for me and I learned to be good at using the phone to get my foot in the door. Those that could get more appointments were usually elevated in the eyes of management and of course if they said there was an interest then you had a reason to go and not waste as much time on the road.

Wow then came the mobile phone and instead of pulling over and dropping a few quarters and sometimes freezing or over heating you could use the old bag phone and really make some time by calling while in that car.  Of course the cost was high and soon management said no only use it when necessary but it was sure fun. I once changed an entire mobile policy by racking up a $850.00 bill one month ...oh they were mad at me but they did pay it :)

What I remembered most was the time spent addressing letters and envelopes and using the glue stick thingie that helped me put stamps on. The trips to a place called a post office, then waiting about two days and calling all those people to ask if they got my letter.Most threw them out but a few said yes.

Fast forward to today and the use of e-mail, and video e-mail and blogs and Facebook, Twitter, Linked In oh boy so many techno things to use to find leads. But through it all I still enjoy the good old telephone call, the actual visiting a person and meeting them face to face and the opportunity to demonstrate my product. Yes technology is surging forward but sometimes every once in a while it is nice to go back in time and use the old methods that still work today and I believe will continue to work for a long time to come.  Yes you need a great web site, a Facebook page, a Google+ page, you need to use e-mail and to blog but as someone said a long time ago, it takes a village, well it still takes a lot of marketing ideas to succeed.

Hope you liked me babbling...more to come soon.

Joe Rossini